chapter 10: middle childhood: Emotional and Social Development

Middle Childhood Emotional and Social Development

Ages 6–11; marked by industriousness, expanded social understanding, reliance on friends for support, and shifts in parent–child relationships.

Erikson's Industry vs. Inferiority

Industry: sense of competence, realistic self-concept, pride, moral responsibility, cooperative participation. Inferiority: pessimism, lack of confidence, influenced by others' negative responses.

Self-Concept in Middle Childhood

Emphasizes competencies, uses trait-based self-descriptions, includes perspective-taking, social comparisons, and frequent reference to social groups; culturally influenced.

Self-Esteem Influences

Culture, gender, ethnicity, child-rearing practices, mastery-oriented vs. learned-helpless attributions, process praise vs. person praise.

Gender and Self-Esteem

Girls less confident in appearance/athletics, higher in language arts/friendship self-esteem; boys higher in math/science self-esteem; African-American children slightly higher self-esteem than European-American.

Parenting and Self-Esteem

Authoritative parenting best; controlling, disapproving, or indulgent styles linked to poor self-esteem; excessive praise inflates self-esteem; striving for worthwhile goals fosters self-esteem.

Achievement-Related Attributions

Mastery-oriented: controllable factors, effort-focused, seek improvement. Learned-helpless: ability seen as fixed, avoid challenges, externalize failures.

Fostering Mastery-Oriented Approach

Use process praise, attribution retraining, encourage effort and effective strategies, focus on personal improvement rather than comparison.

Emotional Development

Self-conscious emotions (pride, guilt) guided by personal responsibility; emotional understanding (mixed emotions, empathy) improves; emotional self-regulation motivated by social interactions.

Coping Strategies

Problem-centered: appraise situation, identify difficulty, decide action. Emotion-centered: internal strategies to control distress when problems are unchangeable.

Moral Development

Flexible moral rules, considers intentions and context, recursive perspective-taking, links moral imperatives and social conventions.

Understanding Individual Rights

Challenges adult authority in personal domain; personal choice valued; limits on personal choice judged in terms of kindness and fairness.

Understanding Diversity and Inequality

In-group favoritism emerges first; out-group prejudice declines with age; focus shifts to inner traits; implicit prejudice may persist.

Factors Contributing to Prejudice

Fixed view of personality traits, overly high self-esteem, social world sorted into groups.

Reducing Prejudice

Promote diverse children working toward common goals, long-term intergroup contact in neighborhoods/schools/communities, belief in changeability of human traits, volunteering.

Peer Groups

Organized by proximity and similarity; peer culture includes vocabulary, dress code, gathering place; may involve relational aggression or exclusion.

Friendships in Middle Childhood

Based on personal qualities and trust; selective; often stable for several years; friends influence development and behavior.

Peer Acceptance

Social preferences among classmates; predictor of psychological adjustment; includes popular, rejected, controversial, neglected, and average children.

Categories of Peer Acceptance

Popular (prosocial/antisocial), Rejected (aggressive/withdrawn), Controversial (liked and disliked), Neglected (seldom mentioned), Average (middle votes).

Bullies and Victims

Bullies: mostly boys, aggressive, socially powerful. Victims: passive, inhibited, frail, lack defenders. Interventions: friendship formation, anti-bullying codes, teaching bystanders to intervene.

Helping Rejected Children

Coach social skills, promote perspective-taking, alter peers' negative opinions, intervene in negative parenting practices.

Gender Typing

Extends to personality and school subjects; more flexible views; boys strengthen masculine identification; girls become more androgynous and explore options.

Gender Identity

Self-evaluations affect adjustment: gender typicality, contentedness, felt pressure to conform; atypical children may need support for acceptance.

Parent–Child Relationships

Easier with authoritative style; coregulation gradually shifts control to child.

Sibling Relationships

Include rivalry influenced by parental comparisons, companionship and support; parental encouragement of warm ties is vital.

Only Children

Higher self-esteem and educational attainment due to closer parental relationships; less accepted by peers due to fewer conflict resolution opportunities.

Parental Divorce

Immediate: family conflict, income drop, maternal stress, inconsistent discipline, child reactions vary. Long-term: adjustment improves after ~2 years, but academic, self-esteem, social competence, and relationship issues may persist.

Helping Children Adjust to Divorce

Shield from conflict, maintain routines, authoritative parenting, promote regular contact with noncustodial parent, explain divorce, parent-training, mediation, joint custody, child support.

Blended Families

60% of divorced parents remarry. Mother–stepfather: boys adjust faster, girls less favorably; older children may act out. Father–stepmother: reduced father contact, girls/stepmothers slower to adapt.

Maternal Employment and Dual-Earner Families

Benefits: higher self-esteem, less gender stereotyping, higher achievement, greater father involvement. Drawbacks: heavy work demands may impair parenting.

Child Care for School-Age Children

Self-care increases with age/SES; benefits depend on how time is spent. After-school programs effective when staffed, have favorable adult–child ratios, and provide skill-building/enrichment.

School-Age Fears and Anxieties

Common fears: academic failure, peer rejection, personal harm, parental health threats, frightening media events. School refusal peaks ages 5–7 and 11–13. Harsh living conditions increase anxiety.

Impact of Ethnic and Political Violence

Post-traumatic stress symptoms; risks include separation from parents, chronic danger, exposure to social crises; protective factors: parental affection, education, recreation programs, school-based interventions.

Child Sexual Abuse

Most cases in middle childhood; victims often girls; abusers male, often parents or known; contextual factors: poverty, marital instability; consequences: anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, promiscuity, abusive relationships; prevention/treatment: trauma-focused therapy, education.

Fostering Resilience

Personal characteristics: easy temperament, mastery-oriented; warm parental relationships; supportive adults outside family; community resources such as schools, social services, youth programs, recreation centers.